Cheese-cutter



NrTnD STATES PATENT union.

ALBERT J. BARTLETT, OF OORYDON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO F. E. BATTEIGER, OF GREENVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CHEESE-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 622,196, dated April 4, 1899.

Application led February 8,1898.` Serial No. 669,529. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. BARTLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Corydon, in the county of Harrison and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Cheese-Cutter, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to that class of ma- .chines designed to cut sector-shaped slices from cheese more rapidly, conveniently, and with much greater precision than can be done by hand.

The obj ect of my invention is to provide an improved machine of this class to be operated by hand or foot power at will, the machine being provided with means for operating and returning the knife and for adjusting the cheese under the knife.

With this object in view my invention con sists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically pointed out in the claim.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which myinvention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a machine of the class named constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same, the foot-bar being broken to shorten the figure. Fig. 3 isa horizontal sectional view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the vertical slide way for the knife-bar. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the sliding knifebar with the blade secured therein.

Like numerals of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various iig# nres of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 6 indicates a table, shelf, or other support upon which to mount my improved machine.

7 indicates the bottom, 8 the top, 9 10 11 the sides, and 12 the door of the box or casing in which my machine is inclosed, such boX or casing being shown as rectangular in form, although this may be changed and the casing be made of cylindrical or other shape,

as may be desired. The door, as is usual in cheese-boxes, may be provided with a wirenetting 13 and a suitable spring-latch 14 to 55 engage a catchpin 15.

16 indicates a plate, of iron or other suitable material, preferably circular in outline, and mounted at its center upon a pivot pin or screw 17, which is secured in the base 7. 6o This plate 16 is preferably slightly larger in diameter than the largest cheese to be placed upon it and has its outer edge shaped to form ratchetteeth 18, which engage the teeth 19 of the ratchet-pinion 20, pivoted upon 6 5 a vertical pin or shaft (not shown) erected in the base, the teeth 19 being oppositely set with relation to the teeth 18, and to facilitate the turning of the plate 16, with the cheese 21 resting thereon, the pinion 2O is provided 7o with a diametrically-placed iiange 22, rising from its upper surface. To secure the turning of the cheese 21 with the plate 16, the latter is provided with a plurality of upwardly-projecting pins 23, upon which the cheese is impaled on the plate;

24 indicates a vertical slideway or tube con sisting of two substantially semicylindrical plates 25 and 26 and provided with laterallyprojecting upper and lower flanges 27 and 28, 8o the former adapted to be secured to the under surface of the top 8 of the boX or casing and the latter to the upper surface of the bottom 7 thereof by means of suitable screws 29. The plates 25 and 26 are likewise provided 85 with laterally-projecting ears or flanges 30 and 31, which may be securely clamped together by means of suitable screws or bolts. Part of the edges of the plates 25 and 26 are cut away to form a slot 32, as shown most 9o clearly in Figs. 2 and 4.

33 indicates the knife-bar, fitted to move vertically in the slideway 24 and projecting below the box or casing through a suitable openingin the bottom thereof, being provided at its lower end with an eye to facilitate the pivoting thereto of the foot-bar 34, which passes through an eye 35 at the end of the horizontal arm 36 of a bracket 37, secured by suitable screws or bolts 3S to the under side roo of the bottom 6 of the table, the foot-bar 34 being provided with a suitable treadle 39 at its lower end. Secured in a slot in the knifebar by means of screws or rivets is the knife-blade 4:1, which has its edge downward and extending to a point in a vertical line above the center of the cheese and rotary plate. rl`he blade 41 projects through the slot 32 in the slideway 21k and is stiifened by a brace 42, the lower end of which is secured to the upper edge of the blade, and its upper end enters a slot in the knife-bar.

43 indicates a bracket depending from the top S inside the casing, to which is pivotally secured the inner end of a lever 44, which passes through the slot 32 in the slideway, a slot 45 in the knife-bar, and a slot 4G in the side 9 of the casing, the last-named slot being protected on the outside of the easing by an escutcheon-plate 17. The lever 4t is provided at its outer end with a suitable handle 4S and is normally held in its upper position by means of a spring 49, connecting it with the top S of the casing inside the same.

The construction of my invention will be readily understood from the foregoing, and its operation may be described as follows: The parts being in the position indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the blade 41 will be elevated above the cheese, the point thereof being located, as before described, immediately over the center of the cheese 2l. By downward pressure upon either the handle 48 or the treadle Si), as it may be desired to use hand or foot power, the knife-bar 32 will be forced downward, carrying the blade 11 with it through the cheese in an exact radial line. \Vhen the handle or treadle is released, the spring 49 will draw the knife bar and blade upward into the position shown ready for an'- other cut. The cheese is now moved the required distance by turning the ratchet-pinion 20, thereby causing the plate 16 to be turned, carryingthecheesewithit. Theknifeisagain forced through the cheese by downward pressure upon the handle or treadle, as before described, the result being the severing from the cheese of a sector-shaped slice of any size required. After the cheese has been turned to any desired position by means of the ratchet-pinion 2O it will be prevented from turning by means of a pawl 50, pivoted at 51 to the bottom 7 of the box or casing and normally held in contact with the teeth 18 of the plate 16 by means of a spring 52.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that I have provided improved means for carrying out the objects of my invention, and while I have illustrated and described what I believe to be the best means now known to me for this purpose I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact details of construction shown, but hold that any slight changes or variations such as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The combination with a cheese-cutter, of a suitable box or casing, a circular plate centrally pivoted in the bottom thereof on a vertical pivot and provided with ratchet-teeth on its periphery and vertical pins on its upper surface, a ratchet-pinion, also mounted on a vertical axis, provided with oppositely pointed teeth to engage the teeth of the circular plate, a spring-actuated pawl to en gage the teeth of the circular plate to prevent backward movement, a vertically-movable knifebar mounted in a slideway in the casing, a knife-blade secured in a vertical slot in the knife-bar and radially located with reference to the cheese and its supporting-plate, a brace, secured at its outer end to the upper edge of the knife-blade and at its opposite end in a slot in the knife-bar, a bracket, depending within the easing from the top thereof, a hand-lever, pivoted at its inner end to said bracket, proj ectiug through a slot in the knifebar and a slot in the side of the casing, and a spring connecting the hand-lever with the top of the casing and normally holding it in its upper position, substantially as described.

ALBERT J. BARTLETT.

lVitnesses:

DANIEL J. BOWLING, WARFoRD l. MAUcK. 

